American education needs a review by parents

As millions of families have fled public schools in recent years, and millions more are expected to join the exodus, the debate over public education is changing dramatically. This is bad news for the educational field. But this could be great news for children and for the country.

While Americans once debated the best way to fix this system, today’s debate, especially among conservatives and Christians, revolves around finding the quickest way to get kids out. This often happens. Almost two-thirds of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of public education. Even liberals are rapidly losing faith in schools.

The reason for this trend is not difficult to understand. From an academic standpoint alone, this system is a dumpster fire. According to the federal government’s own National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about one in three students are “proficient” in core subjects.

However, academic disasters are just the tip of the iceberg.

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education, one in 10 students has experienced sexual misconduct by a teacher. Violence and crime in schools is exploding. Books and classes with highly sexual content are infuriating even the most permissive parents. And suicide, once unthinkable among young people, is now the leading cause of death among children.

Public schools have effectively been turned into burning buildings. Millions of parents are desperately trying to figure out ways to protect their children as they struggle academically and in countless other ways.

So the multibillion-dollar question is: what to do?

For generations, education “reformers” have sought to “fix” the system. Countless hours of activists and countless billions of dollars have been spent on so-called solutions. But as any parent or teacher will tell you, schools are only getting worse. It is clear that protests at school board meetings are not having an effect.

But what if the system isn’t actually broken? What if it’s doing exactly what the people who run it want it to do: turn young Americans against their faith, families, and freedoms? What would happen if you did? If all previous diagnoses were incorrect, treatment options should also be reconsidered.

In fact, the people who conceived and created our current system, from Horace Mann and John Dewey to today’s left-wing “reformers,” had very different views about education than ordinary Americans. They saw the system as a tool for social change.

Even if those who established and ran the system wanted highly educated Americans, this model is flawed. History has repeatedly shown that governments, like Soviet collective agriculture, do a poor job in almost all areas.

The solution to failed collective farms was not “reform.” Instead, it was to restore appropriate incentives to improve quality, reduce costs, and increase choice. Only a free market approach led by parents and volunteer organizations can achieve this.

This idea is not as radical as it may seem at first glance. For centuries in the United States, families and churches assumed almost total responsibility for education. This approach produced the most literate, moral, and educated people in history. America’s founding fathers were products of this non-system.

There are increasingly powerful voices calling for fundamental change. Before his death, talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh repeatedly implored his parents to withdraw their children from public schools. As New Jersey promotes LGBT programs in schools, Franklin Graham, the nation’s most prominent evangelical, says he plans to send his children to Christian schools.

Even in academia, calls for real change are growing. Columbia law professor Philip Hamburger argues that public schools threaten parents’ First Amendment rights. The reason for this is that it puts undue pressure on parents to replace the government’s language with their own when raising their children.

Government officials have made similar claims. Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr says the system is unconstitutional because of escalating hostility toward the beliefs and values ​​of his parents, the majority of whom identify as Christians. . In a 2021 speech, he called the “militant, extreme secular-progressive climate of the state-run education system” the “greatest threat to religious freedom in America today.”

Countless church and national leaders have come to similar conclusions. As a result, an increasing number of states, including powerhouse states such as Florida and Texas, are moving toward school choice systems. Under this system, the government provides tax dollars for home education and private schools.

To the extent that this policy excludes children from public schools, it may be helpful to some people. But as experience shows, government regulations and controls always follow the money. “Choice” programs risk pulling runaway families back into the system.

It’s time to reexamine what has worked in the past. Parents, not the government, should be responsible for their children’s education, just as they are responsible for feeding and clothing their children. When help is needed, churches, nonprofits, extended family, and the community can fill the void.

It will take time, perhaps many generations. However, this must be a long-term goal. It would reduce costs, improve quality, and end the increasingly bitter conflicts occurring in America as parents choose educational options that work for their families.

Those in the ruling class are sounding the alarm about this threat to their territories. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, accused Republican leaders such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of trying to “totally destabilize public education so parents choose private schools.”

The system was in crisis long before DeSantis. Now more than ever, we need to think outside the box. Rather than tinkering in the corners, it’s time to make bigger systemic changes to solve this clearly systemic problem, a crisis that threatens to tear America apart.

The future of the nation and its children is at stake. This issue must be treated with the care and consideration it deserves. After all, the solution won’t come from politicians. Parents who love their children must take the initiative themselves.

Alex Newman is an award-winning international journalist who taught high school for over 10 years. His latest book, Indoctrinating Our Children to Death, has been endorsed by top leaders in education, media, ministries, the military, and more. He is also the volunteer executive director of Public School Exit.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.